The hatch suddenly opened and the cadets spun around nervously.

"Jeff!" they yelled in unison.

"Hello, guys," said the enlisted man glumly as he entered the room. He
slumped on Tom's bunk. "I've got bad news."

"We already know," said Roger. "Vidac met us before we got out of the
air lock. He couldn't wait to tell us."

"He asked us if we knew anything about it," said Tom. "We told him No."

"I lied myself," said Marshall. "I--I was going to do a little work on
it, hoping to have it ready for you when you got back, but--" He stopped
and shrugged his shoulders.

"Never mind, Jeff," said Tom. "If Vidac suspected we were building that
communicator, he'd have found it sooner or later. The thing is, what are
we going to do now?"

"I'll tell you in three words," growled Astro. The others looked at the
big cadet. "Sweat it out," he said finally.

Tom nodded his head. "You're right, Astro. We're tied hand and foot to
this guy for the next eleven months."

"How about Governor Hardy?" suggested Jeff.

"We just saw the illustrious governor," said Roger bitterly. "And the